the ups and downs of the good life
Hey gang…
I hope you all had an amazing thanksgiving (if you’re in America!) 
And I hope you’re making the most of this holiday season. 
I was supposed to be “off” for thanksgiving break, but as could be expected, vacation was spent being super busy, and bustling about in a holiday stupor. My MIL came in town on Wednesday and I’ve been go, go, go, ever since!
On Thursday, we went to my Grams house for thanksgiving dinner, which was absolutely delish. I had been looking forward to having a holiday meal in moderation, which I managed to do pretty well… (I enjoyed some turkey, potatoes, yams, green beans, cranberry sauce-which I lovingly prepared, and fruit salad) but I have to confess… that is when things went a little wrong.
Somehow, with company staying at our house, I went a little food crazy… and for pretty much every meal except thanksgiving dinner, I overate, and threw all caution to the wind. I haven’t eaten this badly in a LONG, LONG time. I might even say that I was binging for the past few days, and it has been a LONG time since my emotional eating was this out of control.
In the interest of full disclosure, lemme tell you about my crazy eats this week. :-/
- Wed. Dinner- Fuddruckers turkey burger with fries
- Thurs. Lunch- Thanksgiving food… and pie.
- Fri. Lunch- Urban Crust pizza with my mom (a fire baked pizza with chicken, mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, and truffle oil)
- Fri. Dinner-Thai food including a thai tea, spring roll, lettuce wrap, and a coconut milk/chicken/yellow curry dish FOLLOWED by a spot of frozen yogurt @ yogurt story.
- Sat. Lunch- Chicken enchiladas (no cheese) and tomatillo sauce from Blue Goose Cantina
- Sat. Dinner- Chicken Express Chicken strips bonanza and a barrel of authentic southern sweet tea
- Sun. Lunch- A piece of fried fish and mac and cheese from a crappy fast food sea food place…
To top it all off, I didn’t lift ONE finger or foot, as I’d planned in an effort to counter those calories…
THIS was when I finally went, WOA. STOP.
I have to say, friends, that I definitely buckled under some of the stresses and emotions that crop up during the holiday season.
I felt overwhelmed, tired, stressed, and alone… even while surrounded by my wonderful family and friends
Have you ever had a tumble off the proverbial wagon, that made you think you couldn’t get back on?
I’m so glad that I’ve learned a few things over the past year. Things that make me encouraged, and not defeated.
1. I am not the product of one bad decision.
2. It is NEVER too late, or too hard, or not worth it to make one tiny little choice that puts you back on track. (I’m reminded every time I look at my wrist)
3. I have to be kind to myself. So, I made some poor choices, and I gave into some negative thoughts and feelings… but I can DO ANYTHING… I have to love myself, and support my self through the tough times too.
It is easy to love yourself and feel good when you’re doing everything right. It’s a lot tougher to love yourself, when you feel like you’re your own greatest obstacle.
I’m feeling a lot better, and have made a couple of committments to help me stay on track for the last month of the Holiday Challenge!
To start things off, I registered tonight for something special…
What better way to reclaim the promises I’ve made to myself than by starting training this week!! I’ve been looking forward to training for a couple of weeks, and I’m so excited that it starts this week! This should be awesome (and hard) but really rewarding.
Also, I’m going to count calories via Lose It! again for a while… (this is the iphone app which has recently launched a website too!)
(If you’re on loseit! add me as a friend! The email address that I use there is kelseytoney @ gmail.com)
Anyway, I think this blog post was long enough. I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow. 
Giveaway #3 – 16×20 Rolled Canvas Print!
Okay, I think this is the coolest one YET!
Hopefully, you’ve seen the super duper giveaways 1 and 2, 50 Holiday cards and an 18×24 poster print!
You could print an landscape image from vacation:
(My image from Sedona, Arizona 2008)
Or a botanical that you love for your bathroom:
(My image from Madrid, Spain 2009)
Here is the scoop!!
Prize Offered: (1) 16×20 rolled canvas
Shipping: Free UPS Ground within United States
Eligibility: Limited to US Residents due to shipping costs.
• Artist Canvas
• UPrinting.com
• UPrinting.com Reviews
I can not wait to get my free blogger appreciation canvas, because I’ve been dying get this print from Paris up in my girlie, paris themed powder bathroom! How romantic, right?
Ready to enter! Here is how!
You can get up to 3 entries for this giveaway!
Method one (Required): Leave a comment on this post stating what you would have printed on beautiful canvas!
Method two (optional):
- Tweet about the giveaway (@kelsnotchels is giving away a canvas print from @uprinting ! Check it out: www.kelseytoney.com) or something to that effect,
- link to the giveaway on your facebook status,
- link to the giveaway on your blog
Then comment here and tell me you’ve done it (include a link if possible)
Method three (optional): Subscribe to KelseyToney.com!!
- via RSS like in google reader, or
- via email using the box on the sidebar of this site, and/or
- add Kelseytoney.com to your sidebar/blogroll
The winner will be selected on Next Sunday, the 15th!
It’s free stuff! Please help my first giveaway become a success. And don’t forget, I have 2 other giveaways that have been posted this weekend! You can enter all 3!
Thanks guys!
*Remember to sign up for the 50 holiday cards giveaway too!
Imagine your entry way with all your framed photos, and in the center, a large print of you and your sweetie right in the middle!
(image courtesy of Dogwood Creek Frames)
Or imagine adding a little scale to your mantle!
(photograph by Kim Christie for Canadian House and Home)
Those are just a couple of the ideas I’ve seen that utilize large scale photo prints!
So, I’m excited to be giving away:
Prize Offered: (1) 18 x24 poster print
Shipping: Free UPS Ground within United States
Paper: High Gloss; Semi Gloss
Eligibility: Limited to US Residents due to shipping costs.
• Poster Printing
• UPrinting.com
• UPrinting.com Review
I am stoked about getting my blogger appreciation poster print, and think that I’m going to have one of these two pictures blown up and added to my photo wall!
or
(haha… j/k)
Ready to enter! Here is how!
You can get up to 3 entries for this giveaway!
Method one (Required): Leave a comment on this post stating what you would use a poster print for! Family portrait? Gift for the grandparents? super hero poster?
Method two (optional):
- Tweet about the giveaway (@kelsnotchels is giving away a poster from @uprinting ! Check it out: www.kelseytoney.com) ,
- link to the giveaway on your facebook status,
- link to the giveaway on your blog
Then comment here and tell me you’ve done it (include a link if possible)
Method three (optional): Subscribe to KelseyToney.com!!
- via RSS like in google reader, or
- via email using the box on the sidebar of this site, and/or
- add Kelseytoney.com to your sidebar/blogroll
The winner will be selected on Next Sunday, the 15th!
It’s free stuff! Please help my first giveaway become a success. And don’t forget, I have 1 more giveaway coming in the next few hours! You can enter all 3! you guys are the best!
Well! Here it is! I’m ready to do my first giveaway…
I’ve been thinking about the fact that they aren’t strictly speaking, related to healthy living. Then I realized that handling the holidays, being around family, and managing stress and activities is TOTALLY related to mental well being (which is certainly connected to my willingness to manage my physical self!)
The other awesome thing about Uprinting, is that they use many eco-friendly methods to make their products including using vegetable and soy based inks! They use recycled materials, and recycle their paper scraps, printing plates, and ink waste! THAT is something I can definitely get behind!
Anyway, here it is!
Prize Offered: (50 ct.) 7 x 5″ (folded to 3.5 x 5″) Custom Thank You Cards with plain envelopes
Shipping: Free UPS Ground within United States
*Blogger Appreciation Prize: (50 ct.) 7 x 5″ (folded to 3.5 x 5″) Custom Thank You Cards with plain envelopes
Eligibility: Limited to US Residents due to shipping costs.
Greeting Cards
Envelope Printing
UPrinting.com Reviews
*One of the cool parts of being sponsored by Uprinting, is that when I hope giveaways, I also get the same prize for myself. So, the blogger prize is supposed to be my prize for hosting the giveaway.
But… I am not using holiday cards this year, and so I talked to awesome Sam @ uprinting, and he said that I could give mine away too so…
I’m GIVING AWAY 2 SETS of 50!! That’s right, there will be 2 winners!!
Ready to enter! Here is how!
You can get up to 3 entries for this giveaway!
Method one (Required): Leave a comment on this post stating what you would use 50 custom cards for! Holiday cards? Thank you cards? Save them up for another occasion?
Method two (optional):
- Tweet about the giveaway (@kelsnotchels is giving away 50 cards from @uprinting ! Check it out: www.kelseytoney.com) ,
- link to the giveaway on your facebook status,
- link to the giveaway on your blog
Then comment here and tell me you’ve done it (include a link if possible)
Method three (optional): Subscribe to KelseyToney.com!!
- via RSS like in google reader, or
- via email using the box on the sidebar of this site, and/or
- add Kelseytoney.com to your sidebar/blogroll
The winner will be selected on Next Sunday, the 15th!
It’s free stuff! Please help my first giveaway become a success. And don’t forget, I have 2 more giveaways coming in the next 24 hours! You can enter all 3!
Rocktober Results and a New Challenge
Hey, remember that time I made the Rocktober challenge?
Haha…
After being laid out with bronchitis for almost 7 days early in the month, I never fully recovered. I ended up working out about 18 days of the month, which is more than half, but I definitely did NOT make my goal of working out each day of the month.
I did, however, go from 146.6 lbs to 143.6 lbs which means I lost a total of 3 lbs for the month of October. This also means that I have lost a total of 28 lbs!
I was recently made moderator of a National website’s health and fitness board, and I’m pretty excited about out Holiday Challenge that we’re starting there!
The challenge doesn’t require you to be a part of the message board, and anyone can do the challenge… It runs from November 1 to December 31, just long enough to get us through the holiday season!
I’m attaching the excel document on which you can track your progress.
I could explain it all, but frankly, the spreadsheet does a better job than I can write a recap. Basically, you’ll earn points for doing certain healthful things each day, week, or month.
Give it a try! I’ll bet you see a difference!
Here is a link to the google document spreadsheet. You can track them on this form online via your google account, or you may save it to your computer as an excel document, or you may print it out and keep a hard copy.
We made a paper chain last week representing the days until Christmas, people… That isn’t very many days, and is actually quite a lot of pies… Make this holiday season your healthiest yet!
What is your holiday season weakness? Any desire to over come it?
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